ij 


PUBLICATION  OF 

*  ,''>*)  ,  > 

American  Federation  of  Labor, 

21  CLINTON  PLACE,  N.  Y.  CITY. 


EIGHT  HOUR  SERIES  NO.  I 


EIGHT  HOUR  PRIMER. 


The  Fact, Theory  and  the  Argument. 


By  GEO.  E.  McNEILL, 

Deputy  of  the  Massachusetts  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  Labor  from  i86g 
to  1873 ,  and  author  of 

“the  labor  movement,  the  problem  of  to-day.” 


“  If  you  work  by  the  piece 
Or  work  by  the  day 
Reducing  the  hours 
Increases  the  pay.” 


QUESTIONS  TO  THE  UNEMPLOYED,  THE  EMPLOYED,  THE 
EMPLOYER,  THE  CAPITALIST,  THE  CLERGYMAN, 

AND  THE  OBSERVER. 


THE  FACT. 


QUESTIONS  TO  THE  UNEMPLOYED. 

Questioner.  “  What  do  you  want?  ” 

Answer.  “Work.” 

Questioner.  “  What  do  you  want  work  for  ?  ” 

Answer.  “So  I  may  live.” 

Questioner.  “You  are  living  now,  what  more  do  you  want  ?  ” 

Answer.  “  I  want  to  have  a  good  deal  better  living.  Sometimes  I  am 
hungry  and  I  want  food ;  I  am  getting  ragged  and  I  want  better  clothes  ; 
I  sometimes  have  to  sleep  out-doors,  and  I  want  a  regular  and  comfort¬ 
able  place  to  sleep  ;  l  am  treated  like  a  dog ;  I  want  to  be  treated  like  a 


2 


fhajte  the^kresent,  and  I  dread  the  future  ;  I  shall  soon  be  desperate 
*  and  bpeomS'-a  drirrfinal,  or  careless  and  become  a  hardened  tramp.” 

.  ^jlesjtioner.^^^Ky  don’t  you  work?” 

\\  Answer.  *]‘I  dariVget  work  at  any  price.” 

,*•  ‘QjLi«stk>n,^r:  *  Why  can’t  you  get  work  ?  ” 

I^n-g^fer.  “Because  no  one  will  employ  me.” 

<3ifestioner.  “Why  don’t  you  employ  yourself?  ” 

Answer.  “  Oh,  don’t  talk  nonsense  to  a  hungry  man.” 

Questioner.  “  How  comes  it  that  you  are  out  of  work?  ” 

Answer.  “  I  learned  a  trade  and  was  doing  fairly  well ;  soon  machinery 
was  introduced,  and  boys  and  girls  could  do  the  work  with  the  machine  ; 
I  was  discharged.  I  tried  to  find  some  employment  where  I  could  im¬ 
prove  my  condition,  and  have  a  fair  chance  for  promotion  ;  as  there  was 
nothing  for  me  to  do  in  the  town  where  I  then  lived,  I  commenced  to  look 
elsewhere.  Winter  came  on,  men  were  being  discharged,  my  money  was 
soon  gone,  I  had  to  pawn  my  good  clothes  and  get  cheaper,  so  I  have 
gone  from  bad  to  worse,  until  I  would  now  do  anything  ;  exposure  and 
want  have  weakened  me  and  I  am  called  a  tramp.” 

Questioner.  “  Did  you  belong  to  a  trade-union  ?  ” 

Answer.  “  No,  I  never  meddled  with  such  things.” 

Questioner.  “  Cannot  you  find  work  at  some  place  where  the  men  are 
on  a  strike? ” 

Answer.  “  If  you  know  of  such  a  place  I  will  go  if  I  can  get  there, 

‘  although  its  a  mean  kind  of  business  and  can’t  last  long.’  ” 

Questioner.  “  Did  you  ever  try  it?  ” 

Answer.  “  Yes,  there  was  a  strike  in  a  machine  shop.  I  saw  the  notice 
‘men  wanted,’  and  although  I  never  worked  in  a  machine  shop,  I  was 
hired  and  told  that  I  should  ha*re  what  I  earned.  The  men  employed, 
except  a  few  of  the  old  hand;,  that  remained,  were  as  ignorant  of  the 
work  as  I  was  ;  they  were  a  low  down  lot,  and  the  machinists  at  work 
would  have  nothing  to  do  with  us  ;  the  foreman  told  us  that  he  did  not 
expect  us  to  do  much,  except  to  pretend  to  work,  and  this  pleased  the 
crowd.  I  tried  the  best  I  knew  and  was  anxious  to  remain,  but  as  I  had 
no  one  to  show  me,  soon  after  the  strike  ended  we  were  discharged.  I 
had  my  board  and  lodging  and  five  dollars  in  money  ;  I  bought  a  hat, 
boots  and  shirt  so  as  to  look  respectable,  and  here  I  am  tramping  again 
ready  for  anything.” 


(NOTE  TO  READER). 

A  married  man  with  a  wife  and  child  having  lost  his  employment  in 
New  Jersey  sought  work  in  Connecticut,  was  arrested  as  a  tramp  because 
he  was  hungry  and  asked  for  bread,  and  was  sentenced  to  one  month’s 
imprisonment  in  the  jail ;  he  escaped  and  returned  on  foot  to  his  family 
in  New  Jersey,  and  was  re-arrested  for  escaping,  and  was  returned  to 
jail  in  Connecticut ;  his  wife  with  a  child  in  her  arms  begged  in  vain  that 
her  husband  might  remain  with  his  family. 

Questioner,  (to  the  Reader)  “How  do  you  like  it?  ” 

Quotation  from  a  book  called  the  “  Holy  Scriptures.”  “What  father 
is  there  among  you,  who  if  his  child  ask  him  for  bread  would  give  him  a 
stone.” 


3 


THE  FACT— (Continued). 


Questioner,  (to  the  employed)  “  What  do  you  want?  ” 

Answer.  “More  wages.” 

Questioner.  “  The  unemployed  asks  merely  for  work  at  any  price,  and 
here  you  who  have  work  are  not  satisfied,  but  ask  for  more  wages,  why  do 
you  want  more  wages  ?  ” 

Answer.  “Because  I  cannot  live  as  a  civilized  man  ought  to  live  ?  ” 
Questioner.  “  How  do  you  think  a  civilized  man  ought  to  live  ?  ” 
Answer.  “  I  have  a  wife  and  three  children  ;  the  oldest  is  ten  and  the 
youngest  three  years  of  age  ;  I  ought  to  have  at  least  five  rooms  to  live 
in,  comfortably  furnished  and  in  a  healthy,  respec* able  location.  Rent 
in  such  a  location,  easy  of  access  to  my  work,  so  that  I  could  go  home 
to  my  dinner,  would  cost  me  $25.00  per  month  ;  if  I  went  out  four  or  five 
miles,  I  would  have  to  pay  car  fare,  and  buy  my  dinners  or  eat  a  cold 
lunch;  I  would  have  to  buy  my  supplies  out  of  town  where  they  cost 
more  than  in  the  city  ;  I  should  have  less  time  with  my  family  and  God 
knows  I  have  but  little  time  with  them  now.  If  I  attended  any  meetings 
or  amusements  that  would  be  extra  car  fare  to  pay  ;  my  wife  and  children 
are  so  poorly  clad  that  I  am  almost  ashamed  of  them.  I  want  to  give  the 
children  a  decent  education  ;  I  want  to  carry  some  insurance,  so  that  in 
case  of  sickness  or  death  my  family  may  receive  some  relief.  It  costs  me 
all  I  can  earn  now  when  I  work  fifty-two  weeks  in  the  year,  and  I  have  not 
averaged  46  weeks  for  the  past  five  years.  I  have  had  sickness  in  the 
family,  which  the  doctor  says  is  due  to  the  want  of  good  air,  sunlight  and 
a  sufficient  variety  of  food;  I  have  been  sick  three  weeks  myself  and 
run  in  debt ;  my  wages  have  been  cut  down.  I  must  have  more  wages 
or  become  a  dead  beat,  and  move  to  escape  rent  and  other  debts.” 
Questioner.  “  Do  the  employed  generally  want  more  wages  ?  ” 
Answer,  “  I  never  saw  a  man  worthy  of  the  name  that  did  not  want 
more.  Even  the  rich,  who  live  in  luxury,  counting  their  money  by  hun¬ 
dreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  and  even  millions,  seem  to  think  it  right 
that  they  should  want  more,  but  when  a  hard  working  man  wants  to  live 
a  little  better  and  see  his  family  have  a  few  of  the  comforts  of  civilization, 
they  seem  to  think  he  is  an  enemy  of  the  human  race.” 

Questioner.  “  How  do  you  expect  to  get  more  wages  ?  ” 

Answer.  “I  don’t  know.  Good  men  differ,  some  say  it’s  the  land, 
some  say  it’s  the  system  of  money,  some  say  it’s  the  great  amount 
of  machinery  that  keeps  down  wages  from  the  natural  increase, 
some  hold  that  wages  can  be  advanced  by  organization,  by  strikes,  and 
some  claim  that  the  best  way  is  by  the  reduction  of  the  hours  of  labor. 
It  looks  to  me  that  if  the  hours  of  labor  were  reduced,  that  the  un¬ 
employed  could  find  work  and  we  could  all  get  better  wages,  but  all  I 
know  is  that  I  want  more  and  must  have  it.  I  am  becoming  desperate, 
I  may  be  discharged  any  day  and  be  forced  to  tramp.” 

Questioner.  “Does  it  not  seem  strange  to  you  that  the  unemployed 
and  the  employed  are  in  the  same  boat,  and  perhaps  I  should  say  in  the 
same  swim,  for  you  both  seem  to  be  in  deep  rough  water?  ” 


Answer.  “Yes,  and  if  I  strike  the  tramp  may  take  my  place  and  I 
his.’’ 


Questioner.  “Does  it  not  seem  best  to  find  work  for  these  un¬ 
employed  first?” 

Answer.  “  Yes,  if  it  could  be  done,  but  Castle  Garden  is  crowded 
with  men  seeking  employment ;  they  come  over  by  hundreds  of  thous¬ 
ands,  and  as  they  live  cheaper  they  can  work  cheaper.  Then  machinery 
is  discharging  skilled  mechanics,  and  women,  boys  and  girls  are  doing 
the  work  that  men  used  to  do.” 

Questioner.  “Stand  aside  a  few  moments  and  let  us  question  this 
employer,  perhaps  he  can  help  us  find  a  way  out  of  the  difficulty.” 


THE  FACT.— (Continued). 

Questioner.  (To  the  employer.)  “  What  do  you  want  ?  ” 

Answer.  “  More  profit.” 

Questioner.  “The  unemployed  want  work,  and  the  employed  want 
more  wages,  and  you  want  more  profit.  What  do  you  want  of  more 
profit?” 

Answer.  “I  want  to  live  in  a  better  house;  have  a  carriage  of  my 
own,  a  coachman  and  footman,  and  enter  more  into  society  ;  take  my 
family  to  Europe,  and  in  fact  amass  more  wealth.  A  man  worth  but  a 
hundred  thousand  dollars  is  a  poor  man  now,  especially  if  his  money  is 
invested  in  manufacturing,  there  is  so  much  competition  that  I  am 
forced  to  work  like  a  dog  to  hold  my  trade.  You  have  no  idea  of  the 
strain  upon  a  man  situated  as  I  am  ;  the  competition  is  terrible.  I  must 
have  more  profit,  or  in  case  of  an  industrial  or  financial  crisis,  I  must  go 
to  the  wall ;  then  my  hands  will  be  discharged,  and  I  will  be  brought 
down  to  their  level,  that  is  unless  I  can  cheat  my  creditors,  which  I  do 
not  want  to  do.  ” 

Questioner.  “  How  do  you  propose  to  get  more  profit  ?” 

Answer.  “There  is  but  one  of  two  ways, — reduce  the  wages  of  my 
employes  or  form  a  syndicate  or  trust  company  and  thus  secure  a 
monopoly  and  control  prices.  ” 

Questioner.  ‘‘Which  do  you  think  is  the  better  way  ?  ” 

Answer.  “A  reduction  of  wages,  or  an  increase  in  their  hours  of  labor 
at  the  same  wages  would  be  the  best  for  all.  Our  workingmen  have  too 
high  notions,  they  earn  more  than  I  did  when  I  worked  for  wages.” 

Questioner.  “Was  there  as  much  manufacturing  and  as  much  enter¬ 
prise,  and  did  the  employers  then  have  carriages  and  go  to  Europe,  as 
they  do  now  ?  ” 

Answer.  “No,  things  have  changed,  there  is  a  larger  population  and 
men  get  better  pay  for  their  work  ;  we  employers  have  to  live  in  better 
style  than  they  did  then  ;  our  wives  require  society  ;  our  children  must 
be  better  provided  for.” 

<>  lestioner.  “You  said  a  moment  ago  that  competition  was  terrible, 
do*,  t  you  believe  in  competition  ?  ” 

Answer.  “I  don’t  like  a  competition  that  forces  down  profits  ;  I  am 
sometimes  forced  to  make  a  contract  in  which  there  is  no  profit,  and  I 
do  this  simply  to  hold  my  customers.” 

Questioner.  “  Is  there  not  a  high  tariff  to  protect  you  against  the  cheap 
labor  of  Europe?  ” 


5 


Answer.  “  Yes,  but  that  doesn’t  prevent  the  mammoth  corporations 
from  practically  forcing  me  out  of  the  business. ” 

Questioner.  “  If  wages  were  reduced  in  this  country  to  the  European 
level,  would  that  help  you  to  more  profit?  ” 

Answer.  “Well,  I  don’t  like  to  say  that  labor  should  be  as  cheap  here  as 
in  Europe,  but  I  don’t  see  how  we  are  to  get  along  unless  there  is  a 
considerable  reduction  ;  the  fact  is,  something  must  be  done  to  increase 
profit,  or  else  men  will  not  invest  their  money  in  manufacturing.  I  shall 
have  to  have  more  profit  or  fail,  or  else  sell  out  before  the  crash 
comes,  and  take  my  money  and  go  to  some  country  where  things  are 
cheap  and  live  on  what  I  have  saved.” 

Questioner.  “Is  it  not  true  that  when  wages  are  highest  you  have  the 
best  market;  and  that  a  low  wages  market  is  a  poor  market?” 

Answer.  “Yes,  that’s  what  puzzles  me,  how  we  are  going  to  have  low 
wages  and  find  a  quick  and  profitable  market  for  our  goods.” 

Questioner.  “  Your  case  seems  desperate,  but  I  must  ask  you  to  step 
aside  and  see  what  this  capitalist  has  to  say.  He  has  his  millions.” 

THE  FACT— (Continued). 

Questioner  (To  the  Capitalist).  “  What  do  you  want  ?  ” 

Answer.  ”  I  want  to  be  let  alone,  and  what  is  more  I  don’t  propose  to 
be  interfered  with,  either  by  trade-unions,  questioners,  students  of  the 
industrial  question,  philanthropists,  clergymen,  legislatures  or  city  coun¬ 
cils  ;  I  have  made  my  money  legally.  I  control  telegraphs,  telephones, 
means  of  transportation,  mines,  food-supplies,  fuel,  and,  in  fact,  land, 
water  and  about  everything  on  the  planet,  including  Congress,  legis¬ 
latures  and  courts  of  law.  As  the  people  did  not  know  enough  to  con¬ 
trol  them  for  themselves,  a  few  of  us  have  become  possessors;  but,  to 
be  polite  to  you,  I  want  the  best  of  everything  there  is ;  everything  that 
art,  science  and  labor  can  produce,  and  that  education  and  travel 
can  give,  and  I  pre  pose  to  have  all  I  can  get,  and  if  there  is  any  attempt 
at  interference,  it  will  be  the  worse  for  those  who  interfere.  This  may 
seem  hard  to  you,  but  it  is  just  and  right ;  I  believe  in  the  survival  of  the 
fittest.  We  have  proved  our  fitness  by  the  mastery  of  all  these  for¬ 
ces.  We  are  kings  ;  if  not  by  divine  ri^ht,  by  the  royal  right  of  success. 
A  people  who  don’t  know  enough  to  hold  what  they  produce  in  time  of 
peace  and  protect  it  in  time  of  war, then  they  don’t  know  enough  to  regain 
what  they  have  lost,  or  to  hold  it  if  they  should  get  possession.  If  it 
were  all  re-distributed  to-day,  men  such  as  I  am  would  have  it  all  again 
in  a  short  time.  Excuse  me,  I  have  a  meeting  with  some  friends,  to 
consider  whether  it  is  best  for  our  interests  to  have  a  panic  or  prosper¬ 
ity.”  (Exit  Capitalist.) 

Questioner  (To  the  reader).  “  How  do  you  like  it?” 

THE  FACT.— (Continued.) 

Questioner  (To  the  clergyman).  “  What  do  you  want?  ” 

Answer.  “  I  want  to  save  souls.” 

Questioner.  “  How  do  you  propose  to  do  it  ?  ” 

Answer.  “  By  preaching  the  gospel.” 


Questioner.  “  What  is  that  gospel  ?  ” 

Answer.  “  I  can’t  stop  to  preach  a  sermon  ;  you  know  what  the 
gO'pel  is,  I  suppose. ” 

Questioner.  “  I  understand  it  to  be  ‘  Love  the  Lord,  thy  God,  with  all 
thy  might,  mind  and  strength,  and  thy  neighbor  as  thyself.’  Do  your 
parishioners  practice  that  gospel  ?” 

Answer.  “They  do  the  best  they  can.  I  could  wish  that  others  would 
do  as  well.  The  trouble  is  that  such  as  you  bring  discontent  to  the 
masses  of  men,  and  array  them  against  the  church  ;  we  are  told  that 
the  poor  are  always  with  us,  and  we  preach  charity  ;  establish  missions, 
where  they  can  hear  the  gospel  preached,  and  make  donations  to  chari¬ 
table  institutions.’’ 

Questioner.  “Does  the  law  of  brotherhood  taught  by  Christ  enter 
into  the  relation  between  men,  as  between  the  employer  and  the  em¬ 
ployed  ;  the  buyer  and  the  seller  ;  the  borrower  and  the  lender?’’ 

Answer.  “My  dear  sir  jou  must  excuse  me;  there  is  no  doubt  that 
something  is  wrong,  and  ‘  we  clergymen  recognize  the  difficulty  ;  we  are 
not  independent  men,  some  few’  receive  large  salaries,  but  many  have  as 
hard  a  struggle  to  live  as  the  better  paid  mechanics ;  for  my  part  it  costs 
me  all  I  receive  to  pay  my  way,  and  if  I  should  undertake  to  defend  the 
laborer  I  should  lose  my  place,  and  have  to  take  a  smaller  salary  some¬ 
where  else.’  Excuse  me,  but  I  am  making  arrangements  for  a  trip  to 
Europe,  to  recuperate  my  energies.  4  The  social  demands  upon  a  city 
clergyman  are  extremely  exacting.’  Good-day,  sir.”.  [Exit  clergyman]. 

Note. — It  is  fair  to  say  that  there  are  now  many  clergymen  whoactively 
advocate  eight  hours,  but  the  words  here  given  are  almost  verbatim  in 
the  language  of  a  clergyman  in  response  to  questions  by  the  author. 

Questioner  (to  the  reader).  “  How  does  this  man  compare  with  Christ 
— or  even  the  Apostles  ?” 

THE  FACT.— (Continued). 

Questioner.  “  Here  comes  a  man  of  large  experience,  keen  observation 
and  familiar  with  history.  Let  us  ask  him  a  few  questions.” 

Questioner,  (to  the  man  of  experience).  “I  am  attempting  to  find  the 
source  of  the  great  discontent  that  prevails,  and  to  find  the  remedy. 
What  do  the  people  want  ?” 

Observer  (smiling).  “  They  want  more.” 

Questioner.  “  More  of  what?” 

Answer.  “  More  of  the  quality  and  quantity  of  what  they  now  have  ; 
more  of  a  better  quality.  They  want  what  they  see  or  know  others  to 
have  and  enjoy;  they  want  what  they  think  they  want,  and  in  many 
cases  people  want  what  others  want,  having  little  conception  of  its  use, 
or  capability  of  its  enjoyment.  In  many  country-stores  printed  notices 
are  displayed  containing  these  words: 

“IF  YOU  DON’T  SEE  WHAT  YOU  WANT,  ASK  FOR  IT.” 
Under  our  present  civilization  in  productive  centres,  there  is  hardly 
a  necessity  that  need  go  unsupplied,  and  yet  the  commonest  wants  of 
the  greatest  number  of  men  and  women  and  children  are  not  satisfied, 
however  urgent  their  plea ;  if  they  ask  for  more  wages,  they  are  answered 


7 


that  the  profit  of  the  business  will  not  warrant  any  increase  ;  and  if  they 
ask  for  a  reduction  of  the  number  of  the  working  hohrs’tbey  are  given 
the  same  answer. 

The  signs  read  :  “  If  you  don’t  see  what  you  wart,  'isk’for  it, but  even' 
when  you  see  what  you  want,  you  can’t  get  it  by  asking';  rit  ip  hot  always* 
safe  to  ask  for  what  you  want  and  what  you  see  ;  the  sign  is  a  text  and  a 
sermon  ;  it  evidences  the  fact  that  the  wants  of  the  p'ebple  have  won¬ 
derfully  multiplied  ;  that  as  a  rule  a  man  will  want  an'ahfcje  before  lie' 
will  ask  for  it,  and  when  he  does  want  anything  near  or  rembtey  present 
to  his  sight  or  hidden  from  view,  he  will  ask  for  it.  • 

A  country  storekeeper  will  ask:  “What  do  you  want?”  and  if  you 
will  make  known  your  want  and  can  pay  him  his  price  for  it,  the  trans¬ 
action  is  soon  completed. 

The  store  keeper  does  not  sneeringly  say  :  “  You  are  always  wanting 
something,”  as  the  opponents  of  the  labor  movement  do,  for  in  his  daily 
transactions  he  understands  that  his  employment  and  means  of  existence 
depend  wholly  upon  the  constant,  varied  and  increasing  wants  of  his 
customers. 

If  a  green-horn  should  go  staring  into  the  store,  not  knowing  what  he 
wanted,  the  proprietor  or  salesman  would  try  to  sell  him  something,  that 
is  they  would  try  to  convince  him  that  he  did  want  some  particular  thing, 
and  failing  with  one  attempt  would,  if  no  other  customer  demanded  their 
time,  “try,  try  again,”  and  if  he  had  money  to  buy  with,  they  would 
probably  succeed,  because  he  would  either  be  reminded  of  something 
he  did  want,  or  be  convinced  that  he  did  want  something,  but  if  a  man 
attempted  to  obtain  any  goods  simply  by  the  asking,  and  made  no  profer 
of  payment,  he  would  not  only  not  succeed,  but  would  be  considered  a 
fool. 

There  are  those  who  take  what  they  want  without  asking  or  without 
returning  any  equivalent,  but  they  are  thieves. 

The  country-store  is  a  miniature  of  the  world  ;  it  is  the  original  of  the 
great  combination  enterprises,  such  as  Wanamaker’s,  of  Philadelphia, 
Macy’s,  in  New  York,  and  many  others  in  large  cities. 

If  you  want  to  know  what  you  want  and  how  to  get  it,  let  the  unal¬ 
terable  truth  be  our  teacher  ;  truth  is  the  storekeeper,  because  greater 
riches  than  the  world  knows  are  in  her  keeping. 

“WHAT  DO  YOU  WANT?” 

Let  us  ask  this  question  of  the  different  races  of  men,  and  from  their 
answers  we  will  find  that  the  wants  of  a  people  show  their  condition. 

The  poor  black  man  in  the  interior  of  Africa  would  be  satisfied  with  a 
breech-clout,  a  weapon  and  some  glistening  bt  ads. 

The  Chinaman,  in  China,  wants  coarse  cloth  for  clothing,  wants  a  little 
more  dog,  cat,  or  rat  meat  and  some  rice,  anything  that  will  keep  him 
from  the  famine  that  is  epidemic  and  almost  continuous. 

Moving  westward  through  the  semi- civilized  countries  to  Germany, 
we  find  that  the  men  who  are  congregated  in  the  cities  and  towns,  in 
addition  to  their  larger  physical  wants  of  bread,  beer  and  meat,  they 
want  comfortable  clothing  and  shelter  ;  they  read,  talk,  think,  love  music 
and  aspire  for  a  larger  liberty.  These  added  wants  increase  the  cost  of 


8 


their  living,  and  show  that  we  have  reached  what  is  called  civilization.  In 
France  and  the  Islands  of  Great  Britain,  all  of  these  wants  are  felt  to  a 
higher  degree,  bpt  itds  not  until  we  reach  this  Republic  that  we  find  so 
large  a  nurpber  of  Wage- workers  enjoying  so  many  comforts  and  de¬ 
manding  more  as  a  necessity  of  their  larger  opportunities  as  free  citizens. 

The  question  which  we  have  so  o'ten  repeated  is  answered  according 
to  what,  you,  have,  those  who  have  the  least  want  the  least ,  those  who  have 
more  wo-tf  more,  in  this  fact  is  the  hope  of  the  labor  movement. 

If  you  have  patiently  thought  out  this  much,  you  are  prepared  to  con¬ 
sider  the  next  question. 

THE  THEORY. 

How  can  I  get  what  I  want  ? 

There  are  so  many  methods  presented  in  answer  to  this  question,  that 
many  working  people  as  well  as  many  students  of  the  labor  problem 
become  confused. 

I  would  have  you  answer  the  question  yourself  in  your  own  language, 
cautioning  you  against  prejudice  to  any  theory,  but  urging  you  to  care¬ 
fully  examine  the  causes  that  have  led  to  the  present  advanced  standard 
of  wages  in  this  country  over  the  standard  of  other  countries  and  of  the 
advanced  condition  of  labor  in  the  present  over  that  of  the  past  century. 

That  we  may  the  more  carefully  think  out  this  problem  let  us  com¬ 
mence  our  investigations,  starting  with  some  accepted  fact  and  proceed 
along  historic  and  scientific  lines,  necessarily  on  account  of  space,  nar¬ 
rowing  inquiry  to  within  easy  limits  of  time  and  space. 

First. — It  is  an  acknowledged  fact  that  the  great  masses  of  mankind 
are  poor. 

Second. — That  in  civilized  countries  the  great  masses  of  mankind  per¬ 
form  useful,  productive,  and  distributive  service. 

Third. — That  the  method  of  payment  for  the  services  of  the  majority 
of  workers  is  called  the  wages  system. 

Fourth. — That  the  amount  of  the  wages  paid  is  not  in  proportion  to 
the  quantity  or  quality  of  the  services  rendered. 

Fifth. — That  great  differences  exist  in  the  amount  paid  for  services 
of  equal  amount  and  value  even  in  the  same  occupation. 

Sixth. — That  the  amount  paid  for  services  is  not  according  to  skill,  or 
training,  or  time  expended. 

Seventh. — That  those  who  work  at  the  most  disagreeable  and  hazardous 
employments  are  not  paid  in  proportion  to  disagreeableness  or  hazard, 
but  are  paid  less  than  those  in  the  most  pleasant  and  healthful  vocations. 

Eighth. — That  those  who  work  upon  the  most  useful,  beneficial  and 
necessary  products,  do  not  receive  as  much  as  those  employed  in  the 
production  of  wasteful,  destructive  and  demoralizing  things. 

Ninth. — That  those  who  work  under  the  long-hour  system  get  much 
less  than  those  who  work  under  the  short-hour  system. 

These  statements  cannot  be  contradicted,  and  equally  strong  facts 
could  be  brought  forward  that  would  point  with  equal  clearness  to  the 
remedy. 

We  must  keep  to  the  point  and  agree  to  a  certain  definition  of  words 
as  used  in  this  primer. 


9 

By  wages  we  mean  the  amount  received  by  employees  (not  salaried 
persons)  for  their  labor. 

By  the  wages  system  we  mean  that  method  by  which  money  is  dis¬ 
tributed  or  paid  to  the  wage  worker,  not  the  money  distributed  by  the 
wage  worker. 

Before  we  can  answer  the  great  question  “  How  can  we  get  what  we 
want,  that  is,  more  wages?”  we  must  find  the  answer  to  the  question, 
“  Why  does  a  man  for  the  same  skill  and  amount  of  service  in  any  given 
occupation  receive  more  in  one  place  than  in  another  ?  ”  or  to  put  the 
same  question  in  a  form  that  answers  itself  “  Why  does  a  wage  worker 
receive  more  where  the  cost  or  standard  of  living  is  high  than  he  does  in 
a  place  where  the  cost  or  standard  is  low  ?  ” 

Answer.  “  Because  in  one  place  the  cost  or  standard  is  high  and  in  the 
other  it  is  low.” 

This  is  the  great  law. 

The  standard  of  living  effects  wages. 

It  is  true  that  in  some  places  and  at  times  wages  are  advanced  beyond 
the  standard  of  living  but  such  an  advance  is  necessarily  brief  in  duration, 
and  proves  the  rule  by  wages  soon  falling  to  the  standard  of  life,  but  if 
the  standard  of  life  reaches  to  the  level  ot  wages  the  wages  remain  fixed. 

Question.  What  effects  the  standard  of  life  ? 

Answer.  As  a  rule  in  all  countries  and  in  all  times  the  demand  for 
higher  or  more  wages  is  consequent  upon  the  increased  pressure  upwards 
of  new  wants  created. 

If  a  man  has  learned  to  read  and  is  surrounded  by  reading  men  he 
will  want  to  read,  and  will  demand  such  wages  as  will  enable  him  to  sat¬ 
isfy  this  want. 

If  there  was  no  such  day  as  the  Sabbath  or  rest  day  and  all  wage 
workers  were  employed  the  seven  days  of  the  week,  not  only  would 
wages  not  be  advanced  but  they  would  be  reduced,  because  the  present 
wants  of  Sunday  would  be  lost. 

The  six  days  system  of  labor  furnishes  not  only  the  seven  days  food, 
but  it  creates  wants  that  permeate  all  the  days  of  the  year  through  the 
associations  of  that  day,  either  religious  or  social,  the  church  or  the 
trade  union,  the  standard  of  living  is  raised. 

Wages  come  to  the  level  of  Sunday  leisure  and  Sunday  clothing. 

Every  infringement  of  the  great  labor  rest  day,  lowers  the  standard  cf 
dress  of  the  community  for  where  many  do  not  dress  better  on  that  day 
than  on  other  days  of  the  week  many  more  will  fall  into  the  same  habit, 
and  habits  of  poor  dress  bring  other  low  habits,  the  Sabbath  is  a  reduction 
of  the  hours  of  labor ,  and  like  every  other  reduction  of  workitig  time  in¬ 
creases  wages  through  the  leveling  up  process  of  leisure. 

A  reduction  of  two  hours  from  the  ten  hour  system  will  increase  wages 
through  the  same  influences,  for  two  hours  from  work  will  mean  two 
hours  of  association  at  the  home  or  in  social  enjoyments  that  ultimately 
lift  the  standard  of  thought  and  standard  of  living. 

It  may  be  said  that  with  truth  : 

That  hovel  life,  gives  hovel  wages  ; 

Tenement  house  life,  gives  tenement  house  wages  ; 

Shabby  clothes,  gives  shabby  wages  ; 


IO 


Good  clothes,  good  eating,  good  homes,  mean  good  wages  ; 

You  cannot  have  the  best,  till  you  want  the  best. 

Men  content  with  working  ten  hours  a  day  at  manual  labor  will  be 
content  with  low  wages,  because  the  excess  of  time  devoted  to  labor  will 
unfit  them  for  the  associations  and  inspirations  that  create  new  wants. 

In  those  occupations  where  the  most  hours  per  day  are  required,  the 
wages  of  the  men  are  so  low  that  the  wife,  mother,  and  child  are  forced  to 
work  to  supply  the  necessities  of  life  ;  such  laborers  are  at  the  mercy  of 
their  employers,  the  most  difficult  to  organize  -,  read  the  history  of  the 
factory  operatives  and  you  will  see  that  it  was  not  till  after  the  adoption 
of  the  ten  hour  system  that  they  could  successfully  organize. 

Having  now  discovered  that  wages  follow  the  line  of  the  increased, 
improved,  and  varied  wants  of  a  people,  we  reach  the  important  ques¬ 
tion,  “What  practical  measure  can  be  applied  to  the  existing  wage  sys¬ 
tem  that  will  the  most  readily  and  permanently  advance  wages  ?” 

To  answer  this  we  must  question  the  past : 

Question.  Have  the  hours  of  labor  been  reduced  during  the  past 
century  ? 

Answer.  Yes. 

Question.  How  much  have  they  been  reduced  ? 

Answer.  From  sixteen  to  ten,  and  in  some  occupations  from  sixteen 
to  eight. 

Question.  Have  wages  been  reduced  with  these  successive  reductions 
of  working  time? 

Answer.  No. 

Question.  Have  wages  been  increased  ? 

Answer.  Yes  ;  and  as  a  rule  wages  have  increased  most  where  the 
hours  have  been  lessened  most. 

Question.  Was  there  ever  time  or  place,  where  the  hours  of  labor 
were  generally  or  permanently  reduced  where  wages  were  not  increased  ? 

Answer.  No;  each  permanent  reduction  has  been  followed  by  a  per¬ 
manent  increase  of  wages. 

Question.  Has  the  purchasing  power  of  a  days’  work  been  increased 
during  these  years  of  the  reduction  of  the  working  hours  ? 

Answer.  Yes.  And  if  the  hours  of  labor  had  been  generally  reduced 
to  eight  twenty  years  ago,  the  industrial  stagnations  or  so-called  panics 
would  have  been  averted. 

Question.  Has  the  moral,  intellectual,  and  physical  condition  of  the 
people  been  improved  where  the  hours  of  labor  have  been  reduced  ? 

Answer.  Yes.  It  has  proved  true  in  this  as  in  other  matters,  that 
“  opportunities  given  have  been  opportunities  improved,’’  and  but  for  the 
rapid  increase  of  cheap  laborers  by  emigration,  wages  would  have  more 
rapidly  advanced. 

This  then  is  the  practical  method  by  which  wages  can  be  increased  by 
acting  directly  on  the  habits  of  the  people  creating  new  wants  and  aspi¬ 
rations,  reducing  profits  upon  labor,  lessening  the  price  of  commodities, 
and  finally  abolishing  the  wage  system  through  higher  wages. 

The  practical  measure,  because  all  trade  unions  and  labor  societies 
are  agreed  upon  this  measure,  and  because  it  can  be  adopted  without 
seriously  imperiling  capital  invested  in  legitimate  enterprise,  and  because 


1 1 


4 


a  general  reduction  of  the  hours  of  labor  will  furnish  employment  for 
the  unemployed. 

ARGUMENT. 

It  is  cheap  labor  more  than  any  other  fact  that  most  endangers  our 
institutions,  the  mistake  of  the  wealthy  is  that  they  consider  their 
direct  interest  in  the  cheap  labor  they  hire,  and  not  their  direct  interest 
in  the  dearer  laborer  who  buys  what  they  wish  to  sell. 

The  number  of  laborers  who  can  buy  must  be  large,  or  many  of  those 
who  produce  to  sell  will  have  nothing  to  do.  Buyers  are  as  important 
as  sellers,  and  those  who  buy  are  those  who  have  something  to  pay. 

Causes  that  penetrate  deep  down  into  the  foundation  upon  which  rest 
institutions,  governments,  religion,  and  various  national  peculiarities, 
must  be  established,  or  perhaps  rather  be  permitted  to  act  from  their 
natural  impulse,  if  we  were  to  abolish  the  wage-system. 

The  most  of  mankind  think  they  must  have  what  ever  they  have  been 
in  the  habit  of  having  ;  there  is  more  resistance  in  this  fact  than  in  any 
other  short  of  absolute  natural  necessities.  The  fact  that  men  must  eat 
or  starve,  cannot  be  changed  at  all.  The  fact  that  they  must  eat  certain 
things  in  certain  ways,  or  at  particular  times,  can  be  changed,  but  only 
very  gradually. 

James  Hole  says  :  “Inferior  habits  of  living  are  as  much  a  cause  as 
they  are  a  result  of  low  wages.” 

John  Stuart  Mill  says  :  “No  remedies  for  low  wages  have  the  smallest 
chance  of  being  efficacious,  which  do  not  operate  on  and  through  the 
minds  and  habits  of  the  people.” 

McCulloch,  in  his  pjlitical  economy,  says  :  “That  the  lowering  of  the 
opinions  of  the  laboring  class  with  respect  to  the  mode  in  which  they 
should  live,  is  perhaps  the  most  serious  of  all  evils  that  can  befall  them. 
Let  them  once  become  contented  with  a  lower  species  of  food,  and  an 
inferior  standard  of  comfort,  and  they  may  bid  a  long  adieu  to  anything 
better.” 

Amasa  Walker,  in  his  Science  of  Wealth,  says  :  “  That  the  standard 
of  wages  varies  according  to  the  expenses  of  subsistence  in  different  coun- 
-tries,  and  the  condition  in  which  the  laboring  classes  are  willing  to  live.” 

Mr.  Brassy,  who  had  world-wide  experience  in  railroad  building,  said: 
“  That  if  the  superior  quality  of  the  workmen  does  not  fully  make  up  in 
product  the  difference  of  wages,  this  high  price  of  labor  stimulates  in¬ 
vention  of  labor-saving  machinery.” 

Ira  Steward  said  :  “  Machinery  is  discharging  laborers  faster  than  new 
employments  are  provided.  Machinery  must  not  be  stopped  and  tramps 
must  not  be  increased,”  and  he  held  that  the  only  remedy  for  these  evils 
was  a  reduction  of  the  hours  of  labor. 

In  the  census  year  of  1885,  the  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  Labor  of  Massa¬ 
chusetts,  collected  the  number  of  employed  and  unemployed  persons, 
men,  women  and  children,  and  the  duration  of  their  unemploy¬ 
ment  in  their  usual  vocations.  The  following  table  prepared  from  these 
returns,  gives  the  number  of  months,  number  of  persons,  number  of 
days,  and  number  of  hours  of  the  unemployed  : 


12 


No.  of 


Persons. 

Days. 

Hours. 

One  month . 

499,239 

4,992,39o 

Two  months . 

•  •  -  47,775 

2,436,525 

24,365,250 

Three  months . 

.  .  .  41,877 

3,203,590 

32,035,900 

Four  months . 

.  .  .  47,424 

.837,248 

48,372,480 

Five  months . 

2,071,492 

20,714,920 

Six  months . 

•  •  •  42,813 

6.550,389 

65,503,890 

Seven  months . 

•  .  •  6,138 

1,095,633 

10,956,330 

Eight  months . 

,461,864 

14  618,640 

Nine  months . 

•  •  •  5,32o 

,220,940 

12, 209,400 

Ten  months . 

•  •  •  4T53 

1,059,015 

10,590,150 

Eleven  months . 

.  .  .  2,276 

638,418 

6,384,180 

Twelve  months  ........ 

.  .  .  822 

251,232 

2.515,320 

making  a  total  241,589  persons 

who  were  unemployed  25,335,885  days, 

or  253,358,850  hours  at  10  hours  per  day. 

The  persons  fully  employed  numbered  574,881,  estimating  that  full 
time  means  10  hours  per  day  for  306  days  in  the  year  ;  these  persons 
worked  1,759,135,860  hours,  and  the  partially  employed  worked  486,008,- 
490  hours,  making  a  total  of  2,245,144,350  hours  worked  by  the  whole 
number  employed  and  unemployed.  At  eight  hours  per  day  this  would 
have  been  280,643,043  days  worked,  against  244,514,435  days  work  under 
the  ten  hours  system,  or  full  employment  at  eight  hours  per  day  for  917,- 
134  persons. 

The  whole  number  employed  and  unemployed  during  the  census  year 
was  816  470  persons.  Under  the  eight-hour  distribution  they  could  have 
had  full  work  for  the  year,  and  then  there  would  have  been  work  for 
100,664  more  persons. 

The  employment  of  the  extra  number  of  persons  at  $1.00  per  day 
would  have  added  to  the  circulation  $100,664  per  day  or  $30,803,184  in 
the  year,  and  as  the  241,589  persons  lost  253,358,850  hours  woik  under 
the  ten  hour  system,  they  would  have  received  under  the  eight-hour 
system  full  employment,  and  would  have  thus  added  to  the  circulation 
the  sum  of  $25,335,850  to  their  earnings,  making  a  grand  total  of  extra 
earnings  of  $55,132,231  for  the  year.  If  any  one  wishes  to  claim  that  the 
full  employment  of  100,664  more  persons  in  this  state  more  than  the 
total  number  that  were  employed  and  partly  employed  for  that  year 
would  not  tend  to  increase  wages,  then  he  must  base  his  claim  on  a 
theory  contrary  to  all  fact. 

It  is  not  claimed  that  with  the  present  facilities  of  production  a  man 
can  produce  as  much  in  eight  hours  as  he  can  in  ten  hours.  We  claim 
that  the  reduction  of  the  hours  of  labor  will  increase  the  demand  for 
laborers.  If  the  wages  are  reduced  as  a  consequence  of  the  reduction 
of  hours,  then  certainly  the  cost  of  production  would  not  be  increased 
in  proportion  to  the  reduced  time,  but  only  in  proportion  to  the  enhanced 
cost  of  the  new  plant  necessary  to  the  employment  of  the  increased 
number  of  persons. 

The  product  of  one  hour  in  eight  would  not  be  less  than  one  hour  in 
ten.  The  introduction  of  new  machinery  necessary  for  the  increased 


13 


number  of  workers,  would  call  again  for  other  and  more  workers  because 
of  the  increased  demand  for  new  machinery. 

All  of  these  persons  thus  brought  into  employment  would  be  as  the 
discovery  of  a  new  market,  100,000  new  consumers  demanding  increased 
production.  All  will  admit  that  lessening  the  number  of  unemployed 
will  give  the  employed  the  opportunity  to  demand  more  wages  with 
eminent  prospect  of  success.  The  elements  of  cost  in  any  enterprize  are 
the  price  of  raw  material,  cost  of  labor,  rate  of  interest  and  taxes,  and  the 
price  of  placing  the  goods  on  the  market. 

The  price  of  the  product  is  governed  largely  by  the  quantity  that  it  is 
possible  to  produce  in  a  given  time.  The  larger  the  demand  the  larger 
will  be  the  means  of  supply  ;  the  demand  determines  the  amount  pro¬ 
duced,  the  market  determines  the  demand,  and  the  condition  of  the 
people  determines  the  market.  High  wages  under  short  hours  means 
that  a  larger  share  of  the  products  are  being  distributed  among  the  pro¬ 
ducers.  The  inevitable  tendency  is  in  the  direction  of  reduced  profits  to 
capital,  and  the  hope  of  the  future  rests  upon  these  two  facts,  that  profit 
upon  capital  is  being  diminished  and  the  wages  of  labor  is  being  increased. 

It  is  said  that  if  profits  are  reduced,  capital  will  not  seek  investment, 
and  hence  enterprize  will  be  checked.  Capital  is  soon  consumed  when  not 
recuperated  by  interest  or  profit,  it  always  accepts  such  percentage  as  it 
is  permitted  to  have,  and  the  insecurity  of  capital  when  invested  in 
speculative  and  gambling  enterprises,  will  tend  to  force  the  conservative 
possessor  to  seek  safe  investments,  however  small  the  interest 

In  1872  the  Boston  Eight-Hour  League  said  :  “  That  reducing  the  hours 
increases  the  purchasing  power  of  wages,  as  well  as  the  amount  of  wealth 
produced ;  that  dear  men  mean  cheap  production  ;  that  6  cents  in  China 
is  dearest,  and  $3.00  a  d  <y  in  America  is  cheapest ;  that  the  moral  causes 
that  have  made  $3.00  a  day  cheaper  that  6  cents  a  day  will  make  higher 
wages  still  cheaper;  that  less  hours  mean  reducing  the  profits  and  fortunes 
that  are  made  on  labor  or  its  results.” 

“  More  knowledge  and  more  capital  for  labor,  the  wage  system  grad¬ 
ually  disappearing  through  higher  wages,  more  idlers  working  and  more 
workers  thinking,  and  the  salvation  of  republican  institutions.” 

The  working  or  wage  classes,  as  a  rule,  are  not  paid  for  doing  ten 
hours’  work. 

They  are  not  paid  as  much  as  they  would  and  do  earn  in  eight  hours’ 
labor  per  day  ;  and  the  difference  between  what  they  actually  earn  or 
produce,  and  what  they  receive  as  wages,  is  increasing  nearly  as  fast  as 
the  invention  of  labor-saving  machinery. 

In  some  cases  men  are  now  earning,  in  three  or  four  hours’  labor  per 
day,  all  that  they  receive  for  their  full  days  pay ;  and  the  results  of  the 
remaining  six  or  seven  hours’  work  are  clear  profit  to  the  one  or  several 
parties  standing  between  them  and  the  mass  of  the  consumers  who  are 
mostly  wage  producers. 

Now  those  who  want  as  much  labor  for  as  little  pay  as  possible,  and 
whose  wealth  isuncresed  in  proportion  to  the  profits  made  upon  labor  or 
its  results,  are  of  course  satisfied  with  things  as  they  are  ;  and  they  na¬ 
turally  resist  all  efforts  either  to  make  wages  equal  to  the  amount  of  work 
done  or  to  reduce  the  number  of  hours’  work  to  the  level  of  wages  paid. 


14 


An  investigation  of  the  natural  laws  that  govern  wages  will  prove  that 
all  attempts  to  bring  them  up  to  a  ten-hour  a-day  standard  must  neces¬ 
sarily  prove,  as  it  always  has,  an  utter  impossibility, — that  low  pay  is  the 
inevitable  result  of  long  hours  ;  th  it  to  increase  the  hours  of  labor 
would  red  ice  still  lower  the  rate  of  wages  ;  that,  as  a  rule,  those  who  work 
the  hardest  always  get  the  least,  besides  not  being  respected  or  thanked. 

If  the  number  of  hours  worked,  or  the  amount  accomplished,  governed 
the  price  of  labor,  goods  could  never  be  manufactured  much  cheaper  in 
one  country  than  another. 

The  cheap  labor  of  the  Old  World  does  not  mean  that  the  laboring 
classes  there  work  only  a  few  hours  a  day.  Many  of  them  are  toiling 
twelve  and  fourteen  hours,  for  a  mere  fraction  of  the  rates  paid  to  Amer¬ 
ican  industry. 

Nor  are  the  wages  paid  for  piece  or  job  work  governed  by  any  differ¬ 
ent  principle  from  that  which  governs  the  price  of  day  labor  ;  as  a  com¬ 
parison  between  the  amount  paid  for  weaving  a  yard  of  cloth  or  setting 
type  in  Boston,  San  Francisco,  London,  Berlin,  Constantinople  or  Pekin 
would  demonstrate. 

In  all  countries  wages  are  governed  by  the  cost  or  standard  of  livirg; 
and  in  those  countries  where  the  people  are  the  most  intelligent,  the 
cost  of  living  and  wages  are  the  highest. 

The  great  obstacle  that  hinders  a  reduction  of  the  hours  of  labor,  is 
the  fe  ir  of  the  working  classes  themselves,  that  if  their  hours  are  reduced, 
their  wages  will  be  reduced  also  ;  and  this  fear  is  worked  upon  by  those 
who  want  to  profit  upon  the  labor  of  the  masses  as  long  as  possible 

Organized  labor  has  asked  for  such  legislation  as  will  most  help  to 
dissipate  this  fallacy.  The  public  can  afford  examples  enough  to  prove 
that  eight  hours  cannot  result  in  a  reduction  of  wages.  Neither  govern¬ 
ment  nor  individuals  can  ever  secure  labor  at  eight  hours  a  day,  without 
giving  what  is  called  ten  hours  pay,— that  is,  the  prevailing  rates. 

In  the  eight  hour  system  employers  must  pay  what  they  term  ten  hour 
rates  to  secure  eight  hours  work.  On  no  other  conditions  can  help  be 
retained. 

In  the  twelve  or  fifteen  hours’  system  men  would  be  obliged  to  work 
the  regular  hours  to  secure  the  usual  rates. 

.  But  if  the  six  or  five  hour  system  were  adopted  by  any  single  employer 
where  the  hours  worked  were  twelve  or  fifteen,  he  would  nevertheless  be 
forced  to  pay  what  would  be  called  twelve  or  fifteen  hour  rates. 

The  justice  of  demanding  as  much  for  eight  as  for  ten  hours  labor  con¬ 
sists  in  the  fact  that  the  masses  are  earning  enough  more  than  their  wages 
to  give  a  few  individuals  and  the  various  manufacturing  railroads,  com¬ 
mercial  and  banking  enterprises  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars  ;  and  it 
is  safe  to  claim  that  20  per  cent,  less  time  for  labor  would  not  result  in 
more  than  ten  or  fifteen  per  cent,  less  production-*'. 

It  is  urged  that  if  wages  cannot  be  reduced  directly,  that  the  cost  ot 
productions  will  be  increased,  and  that  as  laborers  are  consumers,  the 
increased  price  of  commodities  will  be  practically  and  indirectly  a  re¬ 
duction  of  wages.  But  whatever  increases  the  cost  of  living  must  nec¬ 
essarily  increase  wages.  Whatever  else  happens  the  masses  must  live. 


Nothing  short  of  a  revolution  can  suddenly  change  their  habits  and  ways 
of  living.  It  is  easier  to  increase  or  reduce  the  hours  of  labor,  or  to  in¬ 
crease  or  reduce  the  profits  of  capital,  than  to  suddenly  change  the 
established  modes  of  living  for  the  masses.  It  would  be  as  easy  to  change 
their  religion,  or  their  form  of  government  or  possibly  their  language,  as 
their  habits  and  customs,  habit  is  second  nature,  and  the  wages  are  based 
on  habits. 

The  employing  classes  do  not  oppose  this  movement  because  wages 
will  be  reduced,  but  because  they  know  that  wages  cannot  be  reduced. 
They  are  tolerably  sure  that  as  much  work  cannot  be  done  in  the  eight 
hours’  time,  and  they  believe  that  their  profits  will  be  diminished  accord¬ 
ingly.  Whether  one  can  do  as  murh  in  eight  as  in  ten  hours’  labor  is 
not  an  important  question.  It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  with  certain  self¬ 
acting  machinery,  ten  hours  are  more  profitable  than  eight ;  and  that 
every  labor  saving  invention  is  an  additional  argument  for  long  hours,  if 
this  fact  is  to  decide  the  question.  The  more  perfect  the  invention  of 
machinery,  the  more  profitable  ten  or  eleven,  or  twelve,  or  even  fifteen 
hours  will  be  over  eight. 

The  day  will  never  come  when  one  can  do  as  much  in  a  day  of  eight 
hours  a*  they  might  the  day  before  or  after  in  ten  hours  labor  ;  but  the 
time  will  come,  if  it  has  not  already,  when  such  a  c  nsideration  will 
have  no  weight  in  determining  whether  more  leisure  and  better  oppor¬ 
tunities  for  the  working  cl  isses  shall  prevail.  If  this  question  must  turn 
on  the  power  of  labor  to  accomplish  as  much  in  eight  as  in  ten  hours 
with  automate  machinery,  then,  of  course,  the  hours  of  labor  will  never 
be  reduced  ;  and  to  say  that  one  cannot  do  as  much  in  the  proposed  re¬ 
duction,  as  a  reason  why  it  should  not  be  made  is  to  say  that  the  ten- 
hour  system  must  last  forever.  And  the  progress  of  labor-saving  ma¬ 
chinery  will  mean,  finally,  additional  hours  to  the  laborer’s  toil,  as  the 
manufactu'ers  will  demonstrate  the  fact  that  more  can  be  accomplished 
in  eleven,  or  twelve,  or  even  thirteen  hours  a  day. 

This  is  the  argument  that  prevails  with  those  who  now  insist  upon  the 
long  hours  system,  for  the  comparatively  perfect  machinery  of  cotton  or 
woolen  mills. 

Whether  as  much  can  be  done  in  the  long-hour  system,  concerns  the 
question  of  the  production  of  wealth.  Whether  the  laborer  can  obtain 
as  much,  in  the  proposed  eight  hour  rule,  as  he  now  receives,  concerns 
the  distribution  of  wealth.  The  question  of  distribution  is  of  more  im¬ 
mediate  importance  than  that  of  production,  as  it  means  less  poverty  for 
the  masses  ;  and  the  measure  he  e  proposed  is  preliminary  to  this  idea. 
Less  hours  means  less  poverty.  And  the  first  and  indispensable  step 
towards  this  is  to  prove  the  utter  impossibility  of  reducing  wages  by 
merely  reducing  the  hours  of  labor  to  eight  per  day.  To  es¬ 
tablish  this  prepares  the  way  for  the  next  g'eat  truth — that  a  general 
adoption  of  the  system  will  increase  wages,  reduce  the  profits  on  labor, 
cheapen  production,  increase  the  intelligence  of  the  worker,  and  so  grad¬ 
ually  provide  him  with  the  capital  ar.d  knowledge  necessary  to  co-operate. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 


3  0112  042770724 


PRIMER  LESSONS  REVIEWED. 


E 


Questioner.  What  do  the  facts  of  history,  experience  and  observation 
show  as  the  great  underlying  motive  of  men? 

Answer.  To  possess  more  and  better  things  and  opportunities. 

Questioner.  What  has  been  the  historical  method  of  obtaining  more? 

Answer.  By  the  congregation,  association  and  organization  of  men  oi 
lik«  and  similar  interests. 

Questioner.  What  method  or  measure  has  proved  the  most  successful  to 
the  wage  workers  in  their  efforts  to  secure  more  of  what  they  produced  ? 

Answer.  The  measure  or  method  that  would  at  that  time  act  upon  th,e 
habits  and  customs  of  the  people  so  that  they  first  wanted  more,  then 
demanded  more,  and  by  the  upward  pressure  of  moral  and  material  for¬ 
ces  obtained  more. 

Questioner.  By  what  system  do  the  masses  of  mankind  in  civilized  or 
semi-civilized  countries  obtain  the  little  wealth  they  now  have? 

Answer.  By  and  through  the  wage  system. 

Questioner.  What  is  the  great  natural  law  that  governs  wages  ? 

Answer.  The  habits  and  customs  or  standard  of  living  of  the  people. 

Questioner.  What  one  thing  more  than  another  so  acts  upon  the  hab¬ 
its  of  a  people  at  this  time  and  in  all  countries  where  industry  is  highly 
organized,  as  to  improve  the  standard  of  living? 

Answer.  Leisure  is  the  strongest  force  to  create  new  wants  and  aspira¬ 
tions  and  thus  improve  habits  and  customs. 

Questioner.  What  is  the  most  valuable  thing  that  a  man  has  to  sell  ? 

Answer.  Time. 

Questioner.  Who  is  the  richer,  the  man  who  sells  the  most  of 
his  time  for  a  small  sum,  or  the  man  who  sells  the  smallest  portion  for 
the  largest  price? 

Answer.  Time  is  money  and  the  man  who  expends  his  time  or  money 
without  a  full  equivalent  will  soon  be  bankrupt. 

Questioner.  If  a  man  working  under  the  twelve  hour  system  occa¬ 
sionally  works  four  hours  extra,  what  does  he  receive  for  the  extra  time  ? 

Answer.  He  receives  one-third  of  a  day’s  pay  extra. 

Questioner.  If  a  man  working  under  the  eight  hour  system  occasion¬ 
ally  works  four  hours  extra,  how  much  would  he  receive? 

Answer.  He  would  receive  pay  for  a  half  day’s  time,  extra. 

Questioner.  If  the  wage  worker  under  the  eight  hour  system  should 
make  it  a  rule  to  work  two  or  four  hours  extra,  what  would  be  the  result? 

Answer.  The  eight  hour  system  would  soon  disappear,  and  they  would 
soon  have  but  one  days’  pay  for  the  full  number  of  hours  worked,  whether 
it  was  ten  or  twelve  hours  per  d  ly. 

Questioner.  How  can  the  workingclass  get  eight  hours  and  high  wages? 

Answer.  By  increasing  the  number  of  the  members  of  the  Trade 
Unions,  and  having  them  co-operate  with  the  American  Federation  of 
Labor  so  that  all  would  work  towards  the  one  end. 

Questioner.  What  will  you  do  to  be  saved  from  the  danger  of  servitude 
for  the  benefit  of  your  wife  and  children,  and  f  >r  the  preservation  of  the 
free  institutions  of  this  Republic? 

Answer.  I  will  work  for  the  reduction  of  the  hours  of  labor  to  eight 
hours  per  day. 


l>.  J  Gallagher  &  Co.,  Prs.,  420  Library  St.,  Phi’.a. 


